This is a short evaluation on whether one can perform a series of basic tasks using the APIs that cloud photo services provide.
We imagine a scenario in which a mobile app user wants to retrieve a list of photos that they have stored on a cloud platform to review, edit, or delete them.
The cloud photo providers in question are:
- iCloud Photo Library
- Google Photos
- Flickr
- Facebook Moments
- Amazon Photos
- Dropbox Moments
Providers
iCloud Photo Library
- Listing and Retrieving: Yes
- Delete: Yes
- Edit: Yes
Note
Great, but proprietary API. All features can only be accessed directly from a native iOS apps. This rules out any kind of web app. iOS under version 8.0. It transparently integrates local and remote photo content, which lets you treat both without having to bother with the physical storage location.
Google Photos
Google Picasa web albums API documentation
- Listing and Retrieving: Yes
- Delete: Yes
- Edit: Yes
Note
API is messy and provides data in the Google Data format. Not a pleasure to use compared to RESTful APIs.
Flickr
- Listing and Retrieving: Yes
- Delete: Yes
- Edit: Yes
Note
RESTful API documentation. The documentation is easy to read.
Facebook Moments
No API as of Oct 9, 2015
Amazon Cloud Drive
Amazon Cloud Drive API documentation
- Listing and Retrieving: Yes
- Deleting: Yes
- Editing: Yes
Note
Well written RESTful API. Integrated into the Amazon Cloud Drive API.
Dropbox Carousel
No API as of May 22, 2015
Summary
The cloud photo providers with the most pizzazz are Amazon Photos and Flickr. Amazon Photos having a well written API is no surprise, as great APIs are one of Amazon’s core values when working with developers. Flickr also comes at no surprise since they’ve been around for a long time. iCloud’s walled garden fits into the whole isolated island thing they’ve got going. Google Photos might be more trouble than pleasure to use. Dropbox Carousel and Facebook Moments are the absolute losers as they have no API.